Will digital signage reduce your cost?

2/06/2017 by Nick Johnson

Going with digital signage isn’t simply a matter of making your signage more efficient, effective and environmentally friendly; it also makes good business sense. While that may seem a bit surprising, upon closer examination it becomes clear that communicating with digital signage can be less expensive than doing so with the print alternative.
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The ability of a digital signage to display countless messages, is what makes it cost effective. Implementing signage at large scale with unlimited frequency would be inconceivable with print. The investment of digital signage may require a larger upfront CapEx commitment, as you are purchasing state of the art signage software and commercial grade screens. However if you were to measure the ongoing cost of printing, distributing those printed materials, paying employees to display those printed materials, replacing printed materials and recycling the print materials, then the monthly costs of running digital signage are much less.

One financial reduction that is often overlooked is the huge savings made by making decisions more of a non-decision. What we mean by this is reducing the costs of the decision making processes, the reviews and chain of command. These savings are partially due to the more efficient management method of digital media. Updating the signage in just a few minutes for an entire organisation even on a global scale can be part of an existing employee’s assignment, eliminating the coordination of several individuals. Content is instantly shareable for approval before deployment. The entire proofing cycle is greatly reduced so content can be produced closer to its intended use.

Some studies calculate that within the first year after implementing digital signage, some companies calculated more than 30 percent savings in running costs, including the salaries of those who would manage it.

Printed in-store posters requires time and money for design, admin, printing, distribution and setup. Digital signage requires a one-off cost and installation, with smaller ongoing costs for licensing, support and maintenance. This saves time for your employees and money for your brand. These outlined costs may be okay to deal with if you are just one retail branch. However, if you consider the cost of having to change an entire series of print posters around the country, then digital signage presents a much better long term financial decision. Updating a digital signage network is done with just the click of the button and best of all there are no traditional distribution costs.

Across this series of blogs we are exploring the benefits and advantages of moving from printed posters to digital screens. You can read our other blogs related to this series by clicking on the links below: